The performance arts can assist in restoring Indigenous knowledge, cultures and languages. That’s why Trent University researchers Edna Manitowabi and Marrie Mumford partnered with Indigenous Performance Initiatives to launch Nozhem: First Peoples Performance Space at Trent University. The “living laboratory” investigates performance cultures from Indigenous nations around the world, those who celebrate the resurgence of Indigenous performance.

The venue gives Indigenous artists a place to create and tell their stories through dance, music, theatre and video. The result is a merging of cultural history with current concerns in order to imagine for the future. The venue highlights Indigenous ways of knowing, and brings oral traditions and cultural practices, including languages, into performance.